De Beers Group Ignite is introducing a new instrument that offers rapid, automated screening of large volumes of the smallest melee diamonds – a first of its kind in the industry.

Sarandos Gouvelis, head of De Beers Group Ignite, described the company’s latest diamond verification instrument, AMS Micro, as “an important breakthrough” and “a game-changer for businesses dealing in large volumes of melee diamonds” since it bolsters screening of miniscule diamonds through automation thus saving time and resources. 

Gouvelis further explained, “The innovative technology offered by our comprehensive suite of diamond verification instruments – which deliver results in mere moments – plays a critical role in underpinning trade confidence and in supporting the ongoing differentiation between natural and lab-grown diamonds.”

Following more than two years of development and rigorous testing, AMS Micro can screen up to 2,500 diamonds per hour in the 0.6mm to 0.9mm size range, automatically separating natural diamonds from lab-grown diamonds and other materials with a zero per cent false positive rate and a referral rate of less than three per cent. These high accuracy rates have the potential to deliver savings of up to 50 per cent on laboratory costs, depending on screening volumes. 

The speed and accuracy achieved by AMS Micro are made possible by a first-of-its-kind “robotic arm” automated feed and dispense function, which requires no specialist expertise or outside supervision to operate and can save users on average five days for every 100 carats screened, revealed De Beers Group Ignite. 

AMS Micro will be delivered to the Swiss office of diamond manufacturer and De Beers Group Sightholder, KGK, at the end of February this year.